North to the what?

Alaska wants to secede from the Union already. It seems like rather short notice. At least, they talk about it in the wintertime when there is reason to get heated up; and the thing which heats them up most is oil. Not burning it. Talking about it.

Or, to put it more simply, Alaskans don't like some of the policies coming out of Washington.

So, what else is new?

Alaskans get a lot of good points for character. But living as they do with Russians on one side and Canadians on the other, they haven't quite got the idea of who they are, where they are going, or why. It is the only state without a nickname, but it does have a motto, which is: North to the Future. A rather bleak battle cry for anyone living at Point Barrow.

From all reports, Texas is the one state which is delighted at the prospect of Alaska getting out of the Union. Texas never wanted Alaska in the Union to begin with. To a Tex-an, living in only the second biggest state is like being pulled off his horse by a sheep.

To be absolutely honest, Alaska hasn't been a state long enough to talk about seceding. So far, it has voted Republican only five times. So, as far as any secession talk is concerned, it should get in line and wait its turn. There are a lot of places which have put up with Washington's policies a lot longer than Alaska has.

Take Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, and Cape Cod. They all have had the urge to secede now and then, but they have hung in there and paid their dues, so to speak. Everyone can sympathize. They all have been putting up with national administrations since the capital was New York and everyone can imagine what that was like. Anyway, Nantucketers have some reason for their outcry, with immigrants from other parts of the Union being dumped in there every day by the planeloads. Talk about spoiling the neighborhood!

The big point always seems to be money. Alaskans would like to get richer by selling oil at a high price to Japan instead of at a lower price to the United States. But this windfall would last only 10 years at the most. By that time Japan would be selling the oil back to Alaska at profit.

Perhaps one problem is that much of the argument comes out of Juneau, the capital, which is barely inside Alaska on the south side. They can get out quicker than anyone else to spend a few winter months in California.

Of course that might not last either. If California gets a few more illegal Mexicans, it will be the next state voting to secede. Come to think of it, that may be Mexico's motto, too: North to the Future.